Athletic training device and method

ABSTRACT

An athletic training system and method for maintaining the head of an individual in an upright position. The system may include an head member that attaches to the head, a torso member that attached to the body and a connecting member that connects and applies a degree of tension between the body member and head member such that the ability of the head to pivot forward and/or downward are limited. The athletic training device may thereby promote improved athletic technique and form including ball handling skills, court awareness, tackling posture, coordination, and cognition.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application claims priority to Provisional U.S. PatentApplication No. 62/109,507 filed on Jan. 29, 2015, the entire content ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

Embodiments generally relate to athletic training devices and aids. Moreparticularly, embodiments relate to head restraint devices and methodsfor training an athlete to maintain their head in an upright positionduring competition.

2. Discussion

Proper athletic training including conditioning, technique and skillstraining plays a critical role in the development of athletes. Also, theoverall conditioning, athletic technique and skill of an athlete may beenhanced by the use of various training devices and aids. These trainingdevices and aids may be designed to improve performance and reinforceproper and efficient body positioning and movements, for example,through repetition (repetitive movement) and typically aim to developmuscle memory. Proper basketball dribbling technique, for example,requires that a player dribble the ball while keeping their head uprightand their eyes focused on the activity and position of other players onthe court around them. A common problem for basketball players,especially younger players, is that they tend to tilt their head down inorder to look down at the basketball while dribbling to help maintaincontrol of the ball. Doing so, however, prevents the player from seeingthe movement and position of other players on the court around them.Therefore, it is important for a basketball player to develop properbasketball dribbling technique, which requires the player to maintaintheir head in an upright position and their eyes focused on theirsurroundings and not on the basketball, as doing so will improve overallcourt awareness and decision-making skills while playing the game ofbasketball.

Similarly, football players are beginning to be trained and re-trainedto tackle other players with the head in an upright position such thatthey can see the target. Many players, however, have been found to havea natural tendency to lower their head and/or lead with the crown of thehead when tackling other players. Lowering the head in this manner, maylead to increased risk of injury including head trauma such as, forexample, concussions, spinal injuries, and the like. Therefore, traininga player to maintain their head in an upright position and maintain eyecontact with their target has proven an important aspect in reducing therisk of injuries.

Further still, other health professionals including, for example,physical therapists may desire to prevent patients from moving theirhead in an undesirable manner, position and/or direction. For example,it may be desirable to limit the ability of a patient (e.g., a patientreceiving therapy to learn to walk again) to look down at their feet inorder to improve coordination and cognition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various novel aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosurewill become evident to a person of ordinary skill in the art given thefollowing enabling specification and appended claims, and by referencingthe following drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A-B illustrate views of example of an athletic training deviceaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2A illustrates a back view of an example of the athletic trainingdevice of FIGS. 1A-B being worn by a user;

FIG. 2B illustrates a back view of an example of the athletic trainingdevice of FIGS. 1A-B being worn by a user;

FIG. 2C illustrates a back view of an example of the athletic trainingdevice of FIGS. 1A-B being worn by a user;

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative example of an athletic training deviceaccording to an embodiment; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a method of using the athletic trainingdevice of according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Turning now to FIG. 1A, an athletic training device 100 in accordancewith an embodiment is shown. The athletic training device may include ahead strap 110, a torso strap 120 and a connector strap 130. The headstrap 110, torso strap 120 and connector strap 130 may each include asubstantially thin and relatively lightweight elongated member. The headstrap 110 may include cooperating fasteners 112, 114 at either end suchas, for example, hook and loop fasteners. The fasteners 112, 114 mayconnect to each other such that the head strap 110 may be securelyattached to the head (e.g., around the head) of an individual or wearer.Similarly, the torso strap 120 may include cooperating fasteners 122,124 at either end such as, for example, hood and loop fasteners. Thefasteners 122, 124 may connect to each other such that the torso strap120 may be securely attached to the torso (e.g., around the waist orchest) of an individual. While the head strap 110 and torso strap 120are illustrated as having hook and loop fasteners, other fastenersincluding, for example, buckles, adjustable slides, and the like mayalso be used without departing from the disclosure. The head strap 110and the torso strap 120 may be attached to each other via a connectorstrap 130. In at least one embodiment, the connector strap 130 mayinclude a first section 130-1 and a second section 130-2. The firstsection 130-1 of the connector strap 130 may be connected to the headstrap 110 at an anchor point 116 in a fixed or detachable manner.Similarly, the second section 130-2 of the connector strap 130 may beconnected to the torso strap 120 at an anchor point 126 in a fixed ordetachable manner. The first section 130-1 and the second section 130-2of connector strap 130 may be connected via a buckle 132 such as, forexample, a double adjustable side release buckle. The buckle 132 mayinclude a first portion 132-1 connected to the first section 130-1 ofthe connector strap 132 and a second portion 132-2 connected to thesecond section 130-2 of the connector strap 132. FIG. 1B illustrates anexample of the athletic training device 100 having the buckle 132released (i.e., separated) such that the first portion 132-1 and thesecond portion 132-2 of the buckle 132 are disconnected. While thebuckle 132 is illustrated as having two separable portions, the bucklemay also include a single, non-separable and adjustable buckle withoutdeparting from the disclosure. Further, the connector strap 130, whileillustrated as having two separable sections, may also include a single,non-separable and adjustable strap that connects the head strap 110 andthe torso strap 120 without departing from the disclosure.

In at least one embodiment, each of the head strap 110, torso strap 120and connector strap 130 may be constructed of a substantially resilientand non-elastic material such as, for example, woven fabric, webbedsynthetic polymer (e.g., Nylon), leather, and the like. In at least oneembodiment, one or more of the head strap 110, torso strap 120, andconnector strap 130 may be adjustable to in order to securely fit arange of individual body sizes.

FIG. 2A-C illustrate a various views of an example of the athletictraining device 100. More particularly, FIGS. 2A-C illustrate back, sideand front views, respectively, of the athletic training device beingworn by an individual. When the athletic training device 200 is beingworn and in use, the torso strap 220 should be securely attached aroundthe torso (i.e., waist or chest) of an individual, the head strap 210should be securely attached around the head of the individual, and thelength of the connector strap 230 should be adjusted to remove a desiredamount of slack out of the strap (i.e., increase tension in the strap)in order to apply a force to the head via the head strap 210 in order tolimit the degree to which the head is allowed to pivot forward. Theathletic training device 200 may thereby help to maintain the head ofthe individual in an upright position and prevent the head from pivotingforward and/or downward as may be the natural tendency to lower the headwhen engaging in certain physical activities such as when dribbling aball, when tackling an individual, or in other similar situations. As aresult, the athletic training device 200 may be effective in preventingan individual from looking down at a ball and/or floor while dribblingthe ball. As a result, the athletic training device 200 may be effectivein helping improve the ball handling skills and court awareness ofbasketball players by encouraging and training the player to maintaintheir head in an upright and aware position. The athletic trainingdevice 200 may also be effective in preventing an individual fromlowering the head too low when tackling an individual. As a result, theathletic training device 200, may be effective in helping improve thetackling technique of an individual and thereby help to reduce the riskof head injuries associated with poor tackling technique, e.g., leadingwith the head. Further, the athletic training device 100 may also beeffective in preventing an individual from looking down at the floor orat their feet during an athletic training or physical therapy session.The athletic training device 200 may thereby be effective in helping toimprove overall coordination and cognition of an individual. In at leastsome embodiments, the outlined benefits of the athletic training device200 may be achieved without unduly limiting the ability of theindividual to pivot the head from side to side.

Turning now to FIG. 3, an example of an alternative embodiment of theathletic training device is shown. The athletic training device 300includes substantially similar components as athletic training device100 including a head member 310, a torso member 320 and a connectormember 330. The head member 310 may be formed of a substantiallyresilient, elongated material and may include cooperating fasteners 312,314 at either end. The torso member 320 may also be formed of asubstantially resilient, elongated material and may include cooperatingfasteners 322, 324 at either end. The cooperating fasteners 312, 314 aredesigned and sized to securely engage each other to form a band aroundthe head of an individual. The cooperating fasteners 322, 324 aredesigned and sized to securely engage each other to form a band aroundthe torso (i.e., waist or chest) of the individual. The head member 310and torso member 320 may be connected to each other by the connectormember 330 at anchor points 316, 326, respectively. The connector member330 may be formed of a substantially resilient, elongated material. Theconnector member 330 may also be designed and sized to cooperate withthe torso member 320 and head member 310 to apply an appropriate amountof tension at the head member to substantially prevent or discourage thehead from pivoting forward in a downward direction. The athletictraining device 300 may also alternatively include one or moreelastomeric section(s) 334 on connector strap 330 such as connectorstrap 330-1 and/or connector strap 330-2 in order to limit the overallability of the individual to pivot the head forward and/or downwardwhile providing a degree of feedback to the individual (i.e., anindication or reminder to maintain the head in an upright position). Theone or more elastomeric section(s) 334 may thereby allow the connectorstrap 330 to apply a suitable amount of tension to the head while alsoproviding the head with slightly more range of motion, forgiveness,flexibility or feedback than embodiments not having the elastomericsection(s). The athletic training device 300 may also alternativelyinclude one or more connector loop(s) or hook(s) 336, e.g., D-shapedloops, that may be connected to, for example, the connector strap 330such as connector strap 330-1 and/or connector strap 330-2. Theconnector loop(s) may allow other training implements such as, forexample, parachutes, straps, ropes, bands, and the like to be attachedto the device 300.

FIG. 4 outlines a method in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. The method may include various steps that may be performedin a different order without departing from the disclosure. The method400 may include, at illustrated block 410, securely attaching a torsostrap (e.g., torso strap 120) around the torso of an individual. Atillustrated block 420, securely attaching a head strap (e.g., head strap110) around the head of the individual. At illustrated block 430,connecting the head strap 110 and torso strap 120 to each other via aconnector strap (e.g., connector strap 130). At illustrated block 440,optionally, adjusting the tension in one or more of the head strap, thetorso strap or the connector strap in order to apply an amount oftension at the head strap suitable to maintain the head of theindividual in an upright position and limit the ability of the head topivot forward and/or downward.

The dimensions in the illustrated drawing are not to scale and thedrawings have been provided for illustration purposes only. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate from the foregoing description thatthe broad techniques of the embodiments can be implemented in a varietyof forms. Therefore, while the embodiments of this have been describedin connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of theembodiments should not be so limited since other modifications willbecome apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of thedrawings, specification, and following claims.

We claim:
 1. A device comprising: an adjustable head strap for attachingto the head of an individual; an adjustable torso strap for attaching tothe torso of the individual; and an adjustable connector strapconnecting the adjustable head strap and the adjustable torso strap,wherein the adjustable head strap is to limit the ability of the head topivot in a forward direction.
 2. The device according to claim 1,wherein the adjustable head strap includes: a substantially elongatedmember; and one or more fasteners attached to the substantiallyelongated member.
 3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the one ormore fasteners are complimentary to secure the adjustable head straparound the head of the individual.
 4. The device according to claim 3,wherein the adjustable head strap allows the head to rotate from side toside.
 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the adjustable torsostrap includes: a substantially elongated member; and one or morefasteners attached to the substantially elongated member.
 6. The deviceaccording to claim 5, wherein the one or more fasteners arecomplimentary to secure the adjustable torso strap around the waist orchest of the individual.
 7. The device according to claim 1, wherein theadjustable connector strap includes: a substantially elongated member;and at least one adjustment component.
 8. The device according to claim7, wherein the at least one adjustment component is to adjust the lengthor tension of the substantially elongated member.
 9. A devicecomprising: a head member to attach to the head of an individual; atorso member to attach to the torso of the individual; and a connectormember connecting the head member and the torso member, wherein the headmember is to limit the ability of the head to pivot in a forwarddirection.
 10. The device according to claim 9, wherein one or more ofthe head member, the torso member and the connector member areadjustable.
 11. The device according to claim 9, wherein the head memberincludes: a substantially elongated and resilient strap; and one or morefasteners attached to the substantially elongated and resilient strap.12. The device according to claim 11, wherein the one or more fastenersare complimentary to secure the head member around the head of theindividual.
 13. The device according to claim 9, wherein the head memberallows the head to rotate from side to side.
 14. The device according toclaim 9, wherein the torso member includes: a substantially elongatedand resilient strap; and one or more fasteners attached to thesubstantially elongated and resilient strap.
 15. The device according toclaim 14, wherein the one or more fasteners are complimentary to securethe torso member around the waist or chest of the individual.
 16. Thedevice according to claim 9, wherein the connector member includes: asubstantially elongated member; and at least one adjustment member. 17.The device according to claim 16, wherein the at least one adjustmentmember is to adjust the length or tension of the substantially elongatedmember.
 17. A method comprising: securely attaching a head member to thehead of an individual; attaching a torso member to the torso of theindividual; and attaching a connector member between the head member andthe torso member such that the limits the ability of the head to pivotin a forward direction.
 19. The method according to claim 18, furthercomprising adjusting one or more of the head member, the torso memberand the connector member.
 20. The device according to claim 9, whereinthe head member head member is securely attached around the head of theindividual, and the torso member is securely attached around the waistor chest of the individual.